Hadn't seen any of the papers Will... I've not bought a paper since the early 80s when a good friend was completely stitched up by the press... seeing first hand the bullpoop they can come out with to smear a good man's character turns you off that world in a spectacular fashion.

As for comments on YouTube - it's renowned for it. Half of them are just put there to try and get someone to take the bait. Best ignored.

There is horrifying footage on YouTube, you're right there.

I have now watched the clip... and frankly, the way that man was riding, it was only a matter of time before he met a nasty end IMO. What the heck was that manoeuvre exiting the roundabout just before the crash? If his mate with the on board camera hadn't been on the ball, he could easily have taken him out too, by cutting between him and the car like that.

FWIW I don't think the footage should have been used on Sky News (& therefore subsequently YouTube), nor should the point of impact have been used in pictures in the papers. I find such actions by a cynical media sensationalist and unnecessary. They always try to justify it by pretending it's their "duty" to "inform" the public... Hmmmmm... 'scuse me while I express my disbelief in that old chestnut.

I wonder how the family feels about it. He must be or could be someones son/father/husband/uncle etc.                                                                                                                                                                             

Well if it was my son/husband/father etc etc I would hope that having the footage out there would help others see the point of not riding like an idiot.                                                                                                                                                                             

Shell,where do you think alot of people get the ideas from? I personally wouldn't want a loved ones last minutes on Earth splattered all over the net for everyone to gawp at let alone leave disrespectful comments. Would anyone here want that?                                                                                                                                                                              

I understand what your saying Ric, but from my point of view I now have a 19 year old that is totally put off riding like a mad man, as he said its not always how you ride but being able to allow for the actions of others.   If its made my son & his friends realize that there is a reason for riding safe then at least something good had come from a tragic situation, that I hope myself I or any of my friends never have to deal with.                                                                                                                                                                             

I'm glad that it has worked and hopefully saved his life. Then maybe they should only have footage of people smashing themselves up badly,maybe disabled for life and living to regret it. That could work too.                                                                                                                                                                             

I personally wouldn't want a loved ones last minutes on Earth splattered all over the net for everyone to gawp at let alone leave disrespectful comments.

Agreed entirely... It's bad enough when it's splashed all over the news... but that's a temporary thing and you can avoid that by simply not buying papers or having the tv/radio on following a family tragedy.

The internet however, and particularly YouTube has made this sort of thing far far worse, especially when you get those who get their kicks from plastering stupid, insensitive and disrespectful comments under the videos. It's out there for potentially years and would be dreadful for anyone affected to have to see at any time.

                                                                                                                                                                             

did anyone notice how the media have been going on about him killing himself riding at 170 kmph or whatever?  Well that was 2 minutes earlier.  When he died he wasn't do anywhere near that.   He was still at fault though, and riding like a tool.  But it's a real shame that it happened                                                                                                                                                                             

knowing myself pretty well i'd probably allow the footage if he was a relative theres always people who make comments always will be an always have been,crap happens learn from it an move on hopefully a bit wiser.idealy if the relatives want it banned then it should be but if not then its public viewing if it upsets then dont watch! i dont want anyone else telling me what i shouldnt watch.

OK, point taken TM, I'm no great fan of censorship myself... That said, however, I also dislike the way things are going these days. People are becoming desensitised to death, violence, sexual imagery etc because of the images and footage that the media are willing to put in the public domain.

It's sensationalist and unnecessary IMO.

I appreciate that the footage could be useful in showing people it's unsafe to ride in this manner, but why does it need to be aired on YouTube with idiotic comments under it? It would serve more use as a warning if the Police/Bike Safe teams and riding instructors used it during demonstrations/tuition etc.

I think it would be very hard for me to handle were it my husband/brother/father/friend's death being aired and ridiculed in this manner.

As for the media concentrating on the speeds attained well before the actual incident, that's the British war cry at the moment... they've done with drink driving - anyone who's not got the message already never will - now the mantra is "speed is evil" and there's a big drive to make speeding as "socially unacceptable" as drink-driving. It also makes for a more sensational headline... it's nowhere near as "impressive" as saying that someone was killed in an accident while travelling at/just over the speed limit... I don't know what speed the incident actually happened at?

As Geoff mentioned earlier his hardest falls happened at slow speeds as mine did , a car makes a sudden lane jump or u-turns in front of you , its besides the point really these guys exceeded the limits grossly by upto 100 m/p/h ! theres no way i see the media not mentioning it !

as i say in an ideal world relatives opinions should be respected,ive watched russian soldier's being beheaded by Chechan rebels upset me for days but ive got over it ,i'm not desensitised by the imagery, hasnt made me think its ok to behead someone,people should be made aware exactly whats goin on in the world if the german people[and the rest of the world] had been shown footage of gassing jews by means of utube[wouldve been banned by the nazis anyhow] maybe things would have been different,jus a thought!

Point taken... Maybe desensitised was a poor choice of word... It just seems to me that such images have lost their power/impact over the years.

You're an intelligent and sensitive adult and have the comprehension that seeing Chechen rebels beheading Russian soldiers is abhorrent, yet some of these kids on YouTube and elsewhere will put comments saying that something's "funny" when clearly it's far from "funny" showing someone meeting a nasty end (recent example I've seen being a man electrocuted on top of a train carriage - how was that in any way, shape or form "funny"?).

I don't know. All this technology is wonderful and we've never before had such access to any information we want, but I do wonder where this path is taking us. I don't want images of violence/death to become commonplace... they should have power and impact - they should be horrifying...
                                                                                                                                                                             

look at twitter conveying images of anti gvt opposition in Iran,history will show whether the age of instant and worldwide communication has an effect on politics,i was guilty of a coment on the guy being electrocuted to quote 'his name was Singh'i dont feel guitly,had i been there i may have been one to try an save him but 'he's dead jim' insensitive comment well maybe ,soldier humour enables one to carry on an not be overwhelmed with grief an depression about what goes on in this world!                                                                                                                                                                             

Likewise , i've witnessed far too many atrocities where i come from and unfortunately it has (desensetised) me to a large extent , you get to the point that its best to turnaround and walk away like i've done .                                                                                                                                                                              

Hmmm... I've always been one to appreciate a spot of gallows humour... and humour has helped me get through some really rubbish times, so I do get your point.

However, commenting that someone who died in a bike accident is a "f-ing loser" is far from humourous. It's, at best, insensitive to the bereaved family.

The Iranian situation is a good example of technology apparently doing amazing things and letting people's voices be heard internationally... Like I say, it's wonderful to have such information at our fingertips and this technology enables us like never before to know what's going on around us... I guess I just wish we could have the positive effects, without the negative and ignorant ones.

Not wishing to detract from the subject of this thread, but wonder if you've seen this TM?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/6/17/743478/-Ahmadinejad-Rally-Photoshopped-to-Appear-Larger

Apologies for veering off the subject... I won't say any more now... I'm being just as guilty of detracting from this man's death as anyone who puts a stupid comment on video footage of it.

good point but retouching photo's is nothing new soon as photography happened two things became paramount ,porn an the use of photos and retouching for political purposes! [porn was first of course!] the germans and Russians were very good at retouching images for their own use,even goin back to  war artists[far back as yu like] they portrayed images to further there political masters cause i for one never belive newspapers at first hand or take off in a rage at sommat said in a paper like some do!

debate biker or power ranger?at this point i walk away                                                                                                                                                                             

DC sez I have no simpathy. The trottle only goes as fast as you make it                                                                                                                                                                             

good point emz, but this is a tough one, i see all sides, like the recent pictures / images of the young girl dead with a needle stuck in her arm trying to get the message through re drugs, it can be a 'straight to the point' way in hopefuly shocking people to not do these things, but in this case, would it not of been better for the family maybe to contact mcn or local press, tv, to broadcast this properly, was it a request of the family to put it on you tube ??, either way ..which ever way we look at it, we sadly have lost one of our bikers off the road, so whoever you were rip